To give people a better idea what some of the extra modes look like, I made videos…

Dale sent me a diffuser for my BLF Q8, and it makes the candle mode look a lot more like a candle. The light is warm-tinted and spread evenly in all directions. Everything still works without a diffuser, but for that it’s best to ceiling-bounce the beam.

3 minutes of lightning storm mode:

3 minutes of candle flicker mode:

Play both videos at the same time if you want to simulate taking shelter by a fire while a storm goes by. ;P

No blink at moon, because it’s usually pretty obvious when it hits bottom.

A “blink” means the light shuts off for 8ms. Each ramp step takes 16ms. So, it’s off for half of that individual step, half of a 60fps “frame”, just long enough to see.

So… which of the following reference points should blink when the user hits or passes them?

A. Floor

B. ~150 lm, level 65/150

C. ~1000 lm, level 130/150 (highest regulated level)

D. Ceiling

Some prefer “none”, some might like “ABCD”. I like “BC”. What sounds good to you?

I like moon and max. Like my photon freedom.

I like the blink at moon because the Crescendo UI ramps down and up without stopping. and I like to know when I reach the bottom of the same reasons people like to know when the top is reached. Don’t like to press again to make sure.

If you are ramping up and hit the C point are people actually quick enough to stop it before it ramps over? I have a habit of redoing contact with the tail on the D4 to make sure it’s at a regulated level.

Will be good if it possible UI can be switched to very simple mode so old and other people can use it.
For ex. On-Ramp-Off, On-On-Turbo-Off.
Enough…

And even with incorrect clicks, the mode can not be changed. Mandatory without memory, so always can starts from known/familiar position.
Maybe something like 16 clicks for total mode changing…

Some older people I know lost themselves in Q8 because of their short memory and the many features/modes of the device.
You know that when we buy for our parents, the price is not as important as the exact satisfaction of their needs.

So this will have lightning and candle blinkies? Is party strobe the one that makes movements look slow motion, and will this have that too?

Yes.

Tixx wrote:

I like the blink at moon because the Crescendo UI ramps down and up without stopping.

I’ve been meaning to change that, actually… do you think Crescendo should stop at the ends of the ramp? After spending more time on other ramping UIs, I’ve found it’s nice having it stop on its own.

On the FW3A, at least, the plan is for the ramp to stop at both ends. To turn around, release the button and hold it again.

contactcr wrote:

If you are ramping up and hit the C point are people actually quick enough to stop it before it ramps over? I have a habit of redoing contact with the tail on the D4 to make sure it’s at a regulated level.

No, it’s a single frame at 62fps, too quick for a human to respond. People aren’t expected to be able to do frame-perfect inputs.

The D4 thing (loosen tailcap, press button, tighten tailcap, to reset to 150 lm) doesn’t work well on the FW3A. It can be done, but it’s a bit more tricky because loosening the tailcap also disconnects the button. To make it work, you either need to wait a while or loosen it while the light is actually on. And then on reconnect, at least on my prototype, sometimes the contact ring gets a bit wonky so I have to loosen/tighten again to re-seat it. I think that’ll be fixed, and it should only affect the first prototype, but I’m not 100% sure yet.

However, for anyone who wants to hit precise levels every time, it also has a stepped ramp which can be configured to your specifications. It can have anywhere from 2 to 150 evenly-spaced steps, starting and ending at any of the 150 levels. The default right now is 7 steps from ~10 lm to ~1000 lm.

varbos wrote:

I think if there was a ‘shortcut’ to a known regulated level, ie 150lm, does that negate the need for blinks for some users?

See above.

Bonham wrote:

Will be good if it possible UI can be switched to very simple mode so old and other people can use it.

It has a mode specifically for this purpose. It’s called muggle mode.

The details are still up for debate, but so far this mode is about as simple as it can get. Only one level (150 lm), and the button merely turns it on and off. Once in muggle mode, it stays that way until the battery is removed.

To enter muggle mode, click 6 times from off.

There are basically three simplified UIs:

Lockout (4 clicks from off): Acts as a momentary moon mode, using the floor of the current ramp. Click 4 times to exit.

Momentary (5 clicks from off): Main emitter is on while button is pressed, or off otherwise. Uses the last-ramped brightness level. Good for Morse code and such. Physically disconnect power to exit.

If you aren’t expected to be able to hit the mark then the blink seems a lot less useful to me? It seems like if regulation is very important to someone they could set a ramp ceiling at 130/150 and allow dbl click to 150/150 and ramp down from there for 131-150 or would it not allow that and go from 150 to 130 when you ramp down from turbo?